Updated February 2024 Background The United States and Russia signed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) on April 8, 2010. The United States ratified the treaty on December 22, 2011 and it entered into force on February 5, 2011. The Russian Federation extended the treaty on January 27, 2021 and the United States […]
The End of the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement: A Dark Cloud with a Silver Lining
President Putin’s October 3rd executive order suspending the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) is the latest manifestation of the rising tensions between Russia and the United States. Signed in 2000, the PMDA committed Russia and the United States to the disposal of at least 34 tons of their respective stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium. Plutonium […]
My Reality Check About Nuclear Weapons
I’ve now been working at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and Council for a Livable World for about three weeks. Since joining, I have been educating myself on nuclear weapons, defense spending, among other issues and policies we work to highlight. In my time within this community, I’ve realized that non-profit organizations like […]
Why We Still Need to Cooperate with Russia on Nuclear Security
The disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 dismantled a highly centralized multi-national government, leaving behind 15 newly independent states, an economy in chaotic transition, and an enormous nuclear weapons complex. The sudden meltdown of the military structures that had managed the Soviet nuclear arsenal for decades left destructive weapons, technologies, and materials exposed and […]
Ask an Expert: Senator Richard Lugar on Cooperative Threat Reduction
Senator Richard Lugar represented the state of Indiana from 1977-2013. Along with Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA), he authored the legislation that established the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program in 1991. He currently serves as the president of The Lugar Center, a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C. [This interview has been edited for length and clarity.] Nukes […]
